Director of Technical Affairs at the Environmental Public Authority (EPA) Dr. Saud Al-Rasheed said that air pollution is neither restricted nor limited to Um Al-Hayman and is in fact widespread in many areas across the country.
Al Watan news paper reported quoting Dr. Al-Rasheed that there are other areas in Kuwait where the level of pollution is really high, such as Ahmad Al-Jaber Street in Kuwait City, which, according to him, is “due to the digging, some of which reaches 20 meters deep. This means that hydrogen sulfide gas is emitted from untreated underground water which is the cause of the bad odor.”
Report added that some contractors pay little attention to the rules and regulations set by the EPA, Ministry of Public Works and the Municipality.
Many areas in the country suffer a great deal from pollution for different reasons. Mansouriya, Jabriya, Hawalli, Farwaniya and Fahaheel due to the over crowdedness and traffic which results in the emission of hydrogen sulfide and Carbon Dioxide.
As for Um Al-Hayman, Dr. Al-Rasheed said that it is indeed polluted due to private and government factories which emit gases and toxic fumes. “I believe that Ahmad Al-Jaber Street is seriously polluted like Um Al-Hayman, but the only difference between the two is that Um Al-Hayman is a residential area whereas in the Ahmad Al-Jaber Street, only the workers suffer,” report added.
He was certain that with the regular inspection teams assigned by the EPA to inspect factories in Um Al-Hayman, air pollution would ultimately reduce and that the three-year plan by EPA to curb all sorts of pollution and sources would eventually minimize pollution in the area.
He also said that there would be a new project whereby Kuwait will be divided into three areas: north, central and south. The idea is to detect and measure the level of pollution in all areas of Kuwait on a daily basis, the results of which would be broadcasted on television.
“The levels of air quality would be marked by green suggesting that the air is healthy. Moderate air quality would be marked yellow while orange would be a warning for elderly and children. Red would be used for unacceptable air quality and purple would suggest that the air is unacceptable. Finally, brown would indicate cases of an extremely and urgent nature,” he said.
Dr. Al-Rasheed also spoke about the dusty weather saying that unlike the past when dusty weather would only happen in the summer, “today we get dusty weather in winter too. In 2008, 156 days were dusty which means 50 percent of the year. There are reports that the level of concentration is on the increase. Some reports suggest 350 mg/cubic meter.”
He urged the public to wear masks in dusty weather because the tiny dust particles may look insignificant but “result in hazardous effects on the human lungs.”